Littlefield Athletic Trainer, Bailey Delacruz started up the Sports Medicine Program last semester at Littlefield High School and currently has 13 students enrolled in the program.
“Currently the class is made up of juniors and seniors; I wanted to help them out and kind of build my program from there,” she explained. “There are currently 13 students in the class and I’m starting to build a list for next year, with possibly sophomores, juniors and seniors. I want to try and build the program more and more each year. Right now it is just Sports Medicine I, but I can do II and III as well.”
Delacruz went to Tarleton State University where she got her degree in Kinesiology and then she got her Master’s Degree in Athletic Training from the Texas Tech Health Science Center.
Delacruz talked about what made her want to begin the Sports Medicine program at Littlefield, saying, “Whenever I was in high school my cheerleading sponsor mentioned athletic training to me. I was involved in sports and a lot of things and I was interested in medicine, so when I went to Tarleton I tried out for their program and fell in love with it and have grown that love.”
She added, “I decided to start the program here, because I want to get these young kids involved in athletic training and show them what a real athletic trainer is and to help them go off to college and grow a career from it.”
Delacruz said that the program has grown a lot since she first started it.
“At first I had no students helping me and then in football, Jacob Turpen helped me a lot and Ashtyn Parker would help me tape some atheltes whenever I was busy or gone,” she said. “They each kind of pitched in with some of the things that they have learned.”
She added, “A lot of the ones who are juniors this year are wanting to help me with football, volleyball and basketball next year.”
Delacruz said that in this class they start with basic taping and wound care.
“We are also going to do a CPR unit, where they will actually get CPR certified,” she explained. “We also go through every body part, we talk about the injuried that can occur to that body part and how to rehab it and what to do basicwise. Then in that second and third class they will do a little bit more and a little more.”
Delacruz talked about observation hours for the program, saying, “For this class I didn’t have any requirements just to get them started, but a lot of them participated in following me at a football game. For those who are involved in football, they will help me out with a basketball game, so they will at least participate in one game.”
She added, “My goal for next semester is that they will have to do a certain amount of hours per semester in order to go on to the next class.”
Delacruz said that when kids leave this program she wants them to walk away with and overall knowledge of athletic trainers and some hands-on experience of knowing how to do some basic stuff.
“For those who are really, really interested, it will give them a little bit of experience to get into what it looks like in undergrad and then from undergrad to grad school,” she said.
Delacruz said it means a lot to her to be able to give these kids this opportunity in high school.
“I didn’t have somebody in high school that could show me the ropes and lead me in the right direction,” she explained. “It means a lot that I can show them some things and there have been a couple already where somebody burned their hand and they texted me and told me, ‘hey I learned how to do this because of what you taught me.’”
She added, “I just want to get them to know what athletic training is. That is the big point for me. Most people think that we just teach people how to workout and that is not at all what I do. I want to show the kids and the community what I really do.”
Delacruz said the knowledge kids will gain from this program can open doors up to just about anything. “Even as a coach, a lot of times they will have to know how to tape somebody,” she stated. “Knowing how to tape or do basic wound care if an athletic trainer is not there; this can help them with that. Physical Therapy runs really close with athletic training, so it can give them knowledge for that. If you wanted to take it even further to be a Sports Medicine Physician, obviously this would be a good base ground for getting that information.”